RIYADH, 5 March 2004 - The Sri Lankan Expatriates Society marked a new chapter in its history by holding a Sports Day to honor the winners in various events that were contested during the 2003 season.
The awarding ceremony and fun games were held at the Sulay grounds and was attended by luminaries in the Sri Lankan community. The chief guest was Sri Lanka Ambassador Ibrahim Sahib Ansar.
"I am well aware that the Sri Lankan Expatriates' Society in Riyadh has been in the forefront in organizing various social and cultural programs for the community in Riyadh since its inception. Today's event is further evidence to their efforts in promoting the welfare of the Sri Lankan community in the country of domicile," said Ansar in a message.
For his part, Abdulsattar Illiyas, chairman of the SLES sports committee, said "I was so delighted to reflect on the remarkable achievements by our team of highly enthusiastic members. Our primary goal was to enable the members derive the maximum benefit the sports wing of the Sri Lankan Expatriates Society offers."
He extended his sincere appreciation to all the members "for their invaluable support. With Illiyas in the committee were Mario Alles, Andrew Sinnen, Roy Samath, Parakum Ranaweera, Rodney Benedict, Travis Fernando, Shane Almaida and Hibsi Ahamat.
Six-a-side cricket, badminton and indoor games were held. Named Sportsman of the Year was Nuwan Perera and Sportswoman of the Year Jeewa Almaida. Perera was champion in the badminton singles, carrom singles and carrom doubles, while Jeewa emerged champion in carrom singles, darts and badminton doubles.
The list of winners are as follows: Six-a-side cricket - Old Zaharians, champion; DHL (B), runner-up; Young Legends; Badminton - Nuwan Perera, champion; Andrew Sinnen, runner-up (Men's singles), Amal Yayasinghe, champion; Roy Jainudeen, runner-up (Men's plate singles); Nazarain Packeer-Immaz Illiyas, champion; A. Sinnen-T. Fernando, runner-up (Men's doubles A-B); Preveera Fernando-Kenneth de Kauwe, champion; Sanath Bogoda-Talal Yusuf, runners-up (men's doubles ); Champica Alles, champion; Manel Gamage, runner-up (Ladies singles); M. Gamage-Jeewa Almaida, champion; C. Alles-Samanthi Perera, runners-up (Ladies doubles); Shanaz Majeed-sabina Badurdeen, champions; Thahiya Mohideen-Aisha Imtiaz, runners-up (Ladies plate doubles).
Amri Anwer, champion; Shaqeeq Packeer, runner-up (Junior boys singles); Meshan Alles, champion, Dulan Perera, runner-up (Boys plate) Table tennis - A. Sinnen, champion; Mohideen Ismail, runner-up (Men's singles); A. Sinnen-T. Fernando, champion; M. Ismail-Immaz Illiyas, runners-up (Men's doubles) Carrom - N. Perera, champion; Shane Almaida, runner-up (Men's singles); N. Perera-M. Alles, champions; L. Gunasekera-Sasi Kumar, runners-up (Men's doubles); J. Almaida, champion, Nilanka Wickramasinghe, runner-up (Ladies singles) Darts - M. Alles, champion; Rukshan Juhardeen, runner-up (Men); J. Almaida, champion; M. Gamage, runner-up (Ladies).
